Cruising "w/o" Polaris
07 January 2013
06 May 2012
06 May 2012
06 May 2012
06 May 2012
27 November 2011 |
11 May 2011
10 January 2011
01 December 2010
08 May 2010
08 December 2009
12 May 2009
29 April 2009
20 April 2009 | Buenos Aires to Valpo
01 March 2009 | Montevideo, Uruguay
01 March 2009 | Brazil - Brasil
31 January 2009
21 December 2008 | Argentina
22 December 2007
07 August 2007
Bahama Buffet
11 May 2011
Impressions
Words are too puny to describe the intensity of the water's colors surrounding the Bahamas. Rarely does a photo adequately capture the surreal beauty and impressionistic variations of blues and greens that manifest in the water's color. The deep cerulean and crystalline ultra- marines of the loftier depths give way to a breathtaking palate of transparent turquoises, milky jades, and shimmering emeralds of the shallows and are so soothing to the eye they should be considered medicinal and prescribed by physicians in frequent high doses. Add to that aquiline canvas Monet-like brushstrokes of lavender, pink, and gold intermingling with the aquamarines during breathtaking moments of sunset and one witnesses a natural visual experience unparalleled in our man-made-in-China world. This is the water of the Bahamas.
Life's A Beach...
For those of you whose winter has been wracked with snow, cold, and bitter wind how decidedly opposite it was in the beautiful Bahamas. It was a cruising season of blissfully warm temperatures and soul-soothing visual wonders, as well as countless hysterical and heartwarming human interactions. It may seem in flagrant bad taste to rub our fun under your nose at this point. But, then, anyone can give up everything to live on a cramped little sailboat without amenities-just like we have. Choice is a double-edged sword, with privileges and prices to be paid either way. Fun in the sun is our reward for denying luxury.
When we crossed the Gulf Stream between Florida and the Bahamas after New Year we bid farewell to the cold US temps. Although we did experience some chilly nights when we arrived in the northern most islands of the Abacos things warmed up considerably when we crossed the Tongue of the Ocean to Nassau and then turned downright tropical when we arrived in the southern Exumas and Georgetown.
Our previous anchoring area off Volleyball Beach awaited us... right in front of the Chat 'n' Chill- a bar with cold Kaliks (Bahamian beer), a beautiful sandy beach, numerous large picnic tables under giant shady pines, and 3 volleyball courts full of multi-level play. These features serve to create an adult campground atmosphere (Adult Daycare with a twist!) where cruisers amass daily to play volleyball, bridge, and dominoes, to work on art projects, make baskets, and hold meetings and info-sessions. There's even nondenominational Beach Church for the pious on Sundays.
After 5 years in the NW Caribbean we were woefully unprepared for the crush of activities and the busy-ness of the place. With over 300 boats in the anchorages between Monument and Sand Dollar Beaches as well as those in Kit Cove and Red Shanks during the height of the cruising season the local daily cruisers' net takes the better part of a morning to get through! Community happenings, business announcements, general questions, weather, and boat arrivals and departures fill a good half hour. Add another 10 minutes to that for the event announcements revolving around March's Cruiser's Regatta. Enough activities to require a daily planner in paradise!!
Many cruisers come back season after season just for this activity stimulation. Some come just to play volleyball! Canadian's far outnumber Americans...mostly hailing from Toronto and Montreal and, this season, numerous from Nova Scotia.
From our arrival in late January Ken worked his way into 4-man regulation volleyball in the hopes of improving his game enough to be chosen to a winning team for the Regatta Tournament. Becky used her idyll time to kayak to shore for solitary walks on the shell-lined beaches on the windward side of Stocking Island, often joining the Volleyball Beach crowd afterwards. Resolved not to burn out, life before regatta was busy for us but well managed and enjoyable.
Gotta gotta gotta regatta
Opening night of the 2week run of the 31st annual Cruisers Regatta was almost rained out. This after many weeks rain-free! Indiantown Marina, from central FL, hosted the open-bar, free food affair but the glorious weather of the past weeks chose that very night to go south. Much of the evening was a wash. But no amount of bad weather will keep cruisers away from free anything! Several hundred of us ate and drank and danced the night away in foul weather gear.
Our regatta involvement included: the Coconut Challenge-our team took second; the dinghy/poker run-we had a nothing hand; the Bridge and Texas Hold'em Tournaments-Ken got second in one and third in the other; the Elizabeth Harbor Boat Race-the boat we crewed on, Anonia -a 43 foot Taswell-came in second; the Around Stocking Island Race- we happily helped Anonia take first place in our class; the Variety Show-our act of scantily clad Egyptian Pharaohs (yes, Ken was one) avant-garde encounter with the Pink Panther (Becky) had folks laughing hysterically while scratching their heads at the absurdity. Both knee and shoulder injuries kept Ken out of the volleyball tournament. Instead he was able to enjoy beach golf where he tied for third. We squeezed every drop of fun out of the experience and somehow retained our sanity.
Outside regatta other hysterical events we attended in GT included the first ever Dinghy Disco Ball onboard About Time Tex (it rained again and free margaritas for 150 became free margaritas to just 50 of us), the weekly Sunday music jam and party at the Sand Bar, and numerous ARG meetings. The 'Alcohol Research Group' frequently gathered on Hamburger Beach and required participants to bring ample 'liquid' research material as well as an appetizer to share at the piranha potluck table...always a hoot and a great way to meet other cruisers.
All in all it was an incredible season the culmination of which bore a remarkable resemblance to our senior years of high school. The dances, the crazy theme parties, the drunken debauchery were very reminiscent of those carefree teenage days of yore. Nowhere else but in Georgetown!
Exumas...its all the 'rage'
After many perfect weeks in paradise the time came to set sail north. Our journey took us back through the middle and upper Exumas where entries and exits from harbors can be a perilous affair if not timed properly. It takes a bit of study to align tides with wind direction in order to keep a boat from becoming a bucking bronco going through cuts in the Exumas. These perilously narrow reef-lined channels can turn ugly if crossed during the biggest rush of a tide that opposes a stiff breeze from the wrong direction. This phenomenon (of course not one found only in the Bahams) is called a 'rage' and rarely is something as aptly named.
Long and Conception Islands, Glass Cay, Pipe Cay, Wardrick Wells-home to the Exuma Land and Sea Park, Norman's and Allen's Cays are all essential stops but only a tip of the iceberg in a island chain loaded with spectacular cays and bays. Highlighted events included a dinghy float with Roberta and Steve from Chanticleer in the tidal flat river on Conception- spying baby sharks and sea turtles galore; a midday stroll on a mile-long, low tide exposed sand bar off Osprey Cay; a magical moonrise over Leaf Cay-home to the stupendously ugly and highly endangered Exuma Iguanas; sharing fresh Mahi-Mahi onboard La Buena Vida with Val and Harold, to name just a few of scores of memorable moments.
The bitter cold we experienced on our voyage east from Mobile in Nov/Dec is now a dim and distant memory. But as the sun sets on cruising season 2010/11 those magnificent Bahamian water colors vividly endure.
Words are too puny to describe the intensity of the water's colors surrounding the Bahamas. Rarely does a photo adequately capture the surreal beauty and impressionistic variations of blues and greens that manifest in the water's color. The deep cerulean and crystalline ultra- marines of the loftier depths give way to a breathtaking palate of transparent turquoises, milky jades, and shimmering emeralds of the shallows and are so soothing to the eye they should be considered medicinal and prescribed by physicians in frequent high doses. Add to that aquiline canvas Monet-like brushstrokes of lavender, pink, and gold intermingling with the aquamarines during breathtaking moments of sunset and one witnesses a natural visual experience unparalleled in our man-made-in-China world. This is the water of the Bahamas.
Life's A Beach...
For those of you whose winter has been wracked with snow, cold, and bitter wind how decidedly opposite it was in the beautiful Bahamas. It was a cruising season of blissfully warm temperatures and soul-soothing visual wonders, as well as countless hysterical and heartwarming human interactions. It may seem in flagrant bad taste to rub our fun under your nose at this point. But, then, anyone can give up everything to live on a cramped little sailboat without amenities-just like we have. Choice is a double-edged sword, with privileges and prices to be paid either way. Fun in the sun is our reward for denying luxury.
When we crossed the Gulf Stream between Florida and the Bahamas after New Year we bid farewell to the cold US temps. Although we did experience some chilly nights when we arrived in the northern most islands of the Abacos things warmed up considerably when we crossed the Tongue of the Ocean to Nassau and then turned downright tropical when we arrived in the southern Exumas and Georgetown.
Our previous anchoring area off Volleyball Beach awaited us... right in front of the Chat 'n' Chill- a bar with cold Kaliks (Bahamian beer), a beautiful sandy beach, numerous large picnic tables under giant shady pines, and 3 volleyball courts full of multi-level play. These features serve to create an adult campground atmosphere (Adult Daycare with a twist!) where cruisers amass daily to play volleyball, bridge, and dominoes, to work on art projects, make baskets, and hold meetings and info-sessions. There's even nondenominational Beach Church for the pious on Sundays.
After 5 years in the NW Caribbean we were woefully unprepared for the crush of activities and the busy-ness of the place. With over 300 boats in the anchorages between Monument and Sand Dollar Beaches as well as those in Kit Cove and Red Shanks during the height of the cruising season the local daily cruisers' net takes the better part of a morning to get through! Community happenings, business announcements, general questions, weather, and boat arrivals and departures fill a good half hour. Add another 10 minutes to that for the event announcements revolving around March's Cruiser's Regatta. Enough activities to require a daily planner in paradise!!
Many cruisers come back season after season just for this activity stimulation. Some come just to play volleyball! Canadian's far outnumber Americans...mostly hailing from Toronto and Montreal and, this season, numerous from Nova Scotia.
From our arrival in late January Ken worked his way into 4-man regulation volleyball in the hopes of improving his game enough to be chosen to a winning team for the Regatta Tournament. Becky used her idyll time to kayak to shore for solitary walks on the shell-lined beaches on the windward side of Stocking Island, often joining the Volleyball Beach crowd afterwards. Resolved not to burn out, life before regatta was busy for us but well managed and enjoyable.
Gotta gotta gotta regatta
Opening night of the 2week run of the 31st annual Cruisers Regatta was almost rained out. This after many weeks rain-free! Indiantown Marina, from central FL, hosted the open-bar, free food affair but the glorious weather of the past weeks chose that very night to go south. Much of the evening was a wash. But no amount of bad weather will keep cruisers away from free anything! Several hundred of us ate and drank and danced the night away in foul weather gear.
Our regatta involvement included: the Coconut Challenge-our team took second; the dinghy/poker run-we had a nothing hand; the Bridge and Texas Hold'em Tournaments-Ken got second in one and third in the other; the Elizabeth Harbor Boat Race-the boat we crewed on, Anonia -a 43 foot Taswell-came in second; the Around Stocking Island Race- we happily helped Anonia take first place in our class; the Variety Show-our act of scantily clad Egyptian Pharaohs (yes, Ken was one) avant-garde encounter with the Pink Panther (Becky) had folks laughing hysterically while scratching their heads at the absurdity. Both knee and shoulder injuries kept Ken out of the volleyball tournament. Instead he was able to enjoy beach golf where he tied for third. We squeezed every drop of fun out of the experience and somehow retained our sanity.
Outside regatta other hysterical events we attended in GT included the first ever Dinghy Disco Ball onboard About Time Tex (it rained again and free margaritas for 150 became free margaritas to just 50 of us), the weekly Sunday music jam and party at the Sand Bar, and numerous ARG meetings. The 'Alcohol Research Group' frequently gathered on Hamburger Beach and required participants to bring ample 'liquid' research material as well as an appetizer to share at the piranha potluck table...always a hoot and a great way to meet other cruisers.
All in all it was an incredible season the culmination of which bore a remarkable resemblance to our senior years of high school. The dances, the crazy theme parties, the drunken debauchery were very reminiscent of those carefree teenage days of yore. Nowhere else but in Georgetown!
Exumas...its all the 'rage'
After many perfect weeks in paradise the time came to set sail north. Our journey took us back through the middle and upper Exumas where entries and exits from harbors can be a perilous affair if not timed properly. It takes a bit of study to align tides with wind direction in order to keep a boat from becoming a bucking bronco going through cuts in the Exumas. These perilously narrow reef-lined channels can turn ugly if crossed during the biggest rush of a tide that opposes a stiff breeze from the wrong direction. This phenomenon (of course not one found only in the Bahams) is called a 'rage' and rarely is something as aptly named.
Long and Conception Islands, Glass Cay, Pipe Cay, Wardrick Wells-home to the Exuma Land and Sea Park, Norman's and Allen's Cays are all essential stops but only a tip of the iceberg in a island chain loaded with spectacular cays and bays. Highlighted events included a dinghy float with Roberta and Steve from Chanticleer in the tidal flat river on Conception- spying baby sharks and sea turtles galore; a midday stroll on a mile-long, low tide exposed sand bar off Osprey Cay; a magical moonrise over Leaf Cay-home to the stupendously ugly and highly endangered Exuma Iguanas; sharing fresh Mahi-Mahi onboard La Buena Vida with Val and Harold, to name just a few of scores of memorable moments.
The bitter cold we experienced on our voyage east from Mobile in Nov/Dec is now a dim and distant memory. But as the sun sets on cruising season 2010/11 those magnificent Bahamian water colors vividly endure.
Comments
| Vessel Make/Model: | Northern 37' Ketch |
| Hailing Port: | Scappoose, OR...USA |
| Crew: | Ken & Becky Gunderson |
| Extra: |
Gallery not available